05 December 2012

A Holiday Dinner Staple - Green Bean Casserole

Family Traditions ... December's Virtual Supper Club Theme

I wonder. Is there's a household in America that has not prepared this holiday staple at least once for one the big holiday meals? It has been a tradition in our family for over thirty years! Imagine my surprise to find a leaner and cleaner version of the original recipe!

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This is not your mother's green bean casserole . It's a lighter version with far less salt and fat than the Campbell's Soup version that we all grew up with ... I came to it through a challenge from this month's Virtual Supper Club's Family Traditions theme. Turkey is a huge staple of our holiday tradition, but that main entree was taken by the time I began to think about the challenge post, so I fell back on this other mainstay of our family holiday meals. It's guaranteed that green bean casserole will make it onto the holiday table at either Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years ... this year, it was Thanksgiving.

We're still getting good green beans in the markets, so I made a small dish of Cooking Light's version of the old standard. It's a far cry from the old Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup and French's Fried Onions version, although the Cooking Light recipe does give French's the nod. There's still a small amount of those crispy onions topping the casserole! Some things are sacred, after all!

The lighter version has a bit more sophistication, though. The mushroom blend is Shitake and white buttons that are sauteed with onion and then given a dash of dry Sherry to flavour them. The sauce is lightened up with low-salt chicken broth ... I added a dash of half & half to mimic the 'cream of'' factor from the original recipe. The amount of sauce is greatly reduced so that the green beans and mushrooms are center stage instead of the goopy sauce that I remember from the original recipe. Overall, it's a much healther take on our holiday classic. Yum!

The beauty of this side is that the sauce can be made and the beans can be blanched ahead of time They're set aside until just before dinner time. While all the fussy dishes get put together, this little dish is just waiting for a quick toss together and a twenty minute finish in a hot oven ... easy and delish. That's why I love it.

Bring
a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the prepared green beans and blanche
them for exactly 4 minutes. Drain them and rinse with cold water. Place
them in a bowl of ice water and set them aside.

Heat
the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and thyme. Sauté for
about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue the sauté for five
minutes.

Stir
in the flour, salt and pepper until absorbed, then add the chicken broth
to make a sauce. Once the sauce has thickened, add the half & half,
stirring to make a smooth cream sauce.

Pre-heat
oven to 425 ° F and spritz a casserole dish with pan spray. Drain the
green beans and add them to the sauce, tossing to combine.

Turn
the casserole into the baking dish.

Mix
the fried onions and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl and sprinkle over top
the casserole. Sprinkle on a bit of paprika and bake for 20 minutes or
until the casserole bubbles and the cheese has melted.

Serve
piping hot.

Stop in to see what other members of Cooking Light's Virtual Supper Club are making to serve up their family traditions! This has shaped up to be a wonderful holiday meal! Here's hoping your holidays are happy and healthy!

Oh I'll have to try this! I'm not a big fan of the traditional dish, but my husband loves it. Of course, with his heart, he probably shouldn't be eating it, so perhaps this recipe will offer a good compromise!